30 killed in Iraq attacks

An unidentified suicide bomber blew himself up in a cafe in Balad, some 80 km north of here, killing 23 people and injuring 66 others, Xinhua reported citing a police source who did not wish to be named.

Four people were killed and 25 others got wounded when a roadside bomb struck a popular market for fruits and vegetables in Baquba, some 65 km northeast of the capital Baghdad, police said.

Three soldiers were killed and two others got injured when their car came under attack by a group of gunmen in Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraq capital.

At least 11 people were wounded in separate bombing attacks in the provinces of Diyala and Nineveh.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years, which raises fears that the country is sliding back to a full-blown civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007 when monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3,000.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq recently reported that over 1,000 Iraqis were killed and more than 2,300 wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in July, the deadliest month for the country in more than five years.